


Many Miles Away

by cnoocy



Category: Synchronicity II - The Police (Song)
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Epistolary, Fix-It, Gen, Magic, Property Damage, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-14 02:54:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14761239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cnoocy/pseuds/cnoocy
Summary: Mother and Daddy are both desperately unhappy, but something is coming...





	Many Miles Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lunarium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/gifts).



_I blink, conscious of the world for the first time in years. Some great anguish has awakened me from my slumber. I turn my eyes up towards the dim light attempting to reach through the murk above._

* * *

#### Excerpt from a diary labeled “1983”, found in the house after the incident

I think Gordon's getting worse. He was grumpy at breakfast. I had to grab his shoulder to keep from yelling at Jacqui, and he covered his eyes at the grey sunrise. I think he was up late with his bottle of Scotch, so I got him out the door as quickly as possible and handled Jacqui myself.

It's a pain getting Jacqui ready for the bus, but at least it's a distraction from Mum. I can't stand sitting at home all day listening to her try to exorcise whatever it is she's seeing in the fucking walls. But if I leave her at home and go see a film or something she gets out and tries exorcising the trees and cars. The only thing she will ever focus on is immediate danger. If she thinks I'm about to snuff it, she can talk like a normal person. She can call 999, give my name to the paramedics, deal with Accident and Emergency...

So once or twice in the afternoons I've made like Lucy Jordan and taken a few too many pills. My doctor says it means long-term liver damage, but I sleep so well in hospital…

* * *

_I can feel the cry of a family in distress. They have roused me and I thank them. They will not thank me. They never do._

* * *

#### Report from P. C. 38-90, under cover with National Union of Mineworkers

Spent the morning at a coal-use picket line in Birmingham, mostly uneventful Two picketers let a middle manager through the line without any harassment. When the other picketers asked them why, they almost came to blows in their argument about his appearance. One was adamant that the fellow was a demon, stripped of his human face. The other was certain that the man was a changeling or some other creature from his Nan's fairy stories. P’raps some of these off-work miners are hitting the gin before the morning picket!

* * *

_The cool air chills my skin as I surface and exercise my neglected lungs. Sniffing the wind, I smell the family to the south. I roll over in the water, making only the slightest ripple as I swim for the shore._

* * *

#### Writing sample, written with inexpert block letters on lined paper, which has been stamped in red with the words “IMMEDIATE ATTENTION”

There are four people living in my house. Daddy works at a factory in the city. He is angry all the time, but Mother makes him go outside when he wants to yell. Mother stays at home and takes care of Grandmother. Grandmother mostly shouts at us that our disrespect of one another will bring the beast. Then she screams at the beast to stay away and Mother sends me next door to play. Sometimes our neighbour Miz Maddy comes and talks to me over the hedge. She says that suburban living is bad for the soul. I think she's right.

* * *

_The rocky shore is solid and stable under my claws. It feels good to fully support my weight and I stand up, letting the breeze flow around my many legs._

* * *

#### Overheard phone conversation from a professionally-dressed young lady talking on a pay phone next to a pub on Birmingham’s high street

Hey Dawn, it's Tracey.

Nothing much, I just wanted to see if you still want to go in on a new radio for mum's birthday. How's Cambridge? Passing your classes?

Oh, good.

Me? More secretarial pool work. Still can't get Kirsty to notice me, but I think Gordon thinks I'm flirting with _him_.

Yes, that one!

I don't know, it's sort of useful to have a beard. I'm less worried about being caught batting my eyes at Kirsty if people think I'm batting them at Gordon.

Ha ha! Yeah, I'll let you know how I get on.

Yes, on Saturday week.

See you then.

* * *

_I sniff the air again. I cannot tell how far away the family is. It does not matter. I can start with the first house I find._

* * *

#### Internal Memorandum from Ray, Vice President of Operations

To: George From: Ray Re: Gordon

I'm really getting to the end of my tether with Gordon. You'd think he would be happy to have a good job like this in tough economic times like these, but every time we meet, it's like he's too good for us. I just don't understand why he finds the work of managing the production of an affordable automotive chassis so beneath him. I've tried asking him directly, but he just stares at me. If it wasn't so much paperwork I'd let him go. Oh well.

I hope Lola and I will see you and Rita at church next Sunday.

Ray

* * *

_There is a home along the shore. It is likely not the home that is in pain but I will destroy it anyway. I will destroy homes until I find the one I seek. Then the family's pain will end._

* * *

#### Letter from Herman, community speed enforcement volunteer, to Town Council

This new radar gun is quite something. I can write down actual speeds of the worst offenders instead of just guessing. We have a range of speeds on the evening run, all of them plainly too fast. The worst that I tracked tonight was going 68.4 miles an hour. I even got a glimpse of him in the street light as he passed. He looked absolutely wretched. I say, if these people would just slow down a bit, they'd be ever so much happier.

* * *

_The small house is in front of me. I raise myself up on some of my rear legs, blocking the light from the setting sun. But why is there a point of light shining through? The point expands to a spot, then becomes a circle. Before I can bat it away, it grows into a great gate. Through the gate I can smell the family, my family, the family that woke me up._

_I plunge eagerly through the gate._

* * *

#### Insurance report on domestic residence, claim #90125

I don't know how this much damage was done to a home before any emergency services could arrive. To begin with, the front door is entirely ripped off its hinges, as if some gargantuan force slammed into it. The parlour, just inside, looks worse than some bomb sites I have evaluated. I had to consult the inventory to see what furniture had been in there, because it was all reduced to splinters.

Then there's the kitchen. Every sharp object in the kitchen is embedded in the wall. That includes the serving forks. Also the blades from the blender. Thankfully, our coverage does not include any food, because the entire contents of the refrigerator and the pantry have been smashed open and emptied chaotically around the room. When I arrived, the cereal was still crackling and popping in a puddle of stout.

The two bedrooms are comparatively unscathed, though both mattresses are a total loss. The toilet is another tale. All of the water appliances have been ripped out of the wall and smashed into the tile floor. The floor has not taken it well. However, any ceramic powder that was dispersed by this has been washed away by the prodigious stream of water from the various pipes leading into the room. The drains are mostly functional, but they are not operating at full capacity so some water has backed up into the room and the hallway beyond.

The hallway is the most disturbing. The walls are broken on both sides, as if someone has driven a very small car from the front door to the WC. The wall damage includes multiple cracks in supporting structures, so the owner of this policy will certainly be acquiring a new domicile.

That is, if anyone can figure out where he and his family have got to.

* * *

_My work is complete. There will be no more anguish in this house. I have dissolved back into slime so I can travel like water. I will return to Loch Dòchais, where I will rest, satisfied, until I am again needed._

* * *

#### Letter received by next-door neighbor four weeks after the incident

Dear Miz Maddy,

I'm sending this letter in secret because Grandmother says we're supposed to put our old lives behind us, but you were always nice to me and I don't want you to think we're all dead. Grandmother made a big door for the beast and we all hid behind it. The beast made a big weird noise and ran into the house. Mother and Daddy were all confused but Grandmother told them not to worry. Then we went into the big door and Grandmother closed it behind us. Now we’re living in ~~Scotland~~ a place, but apparently we have some relatives in ~~Orkney~~ another place who want us to live with them so they can teach me to do things like Grandmother can do. Mother and Daddy asked why they weren’t consulted but Grandmother says “don’t worry, it skips a generation, and you like fishing” and they get confused again. Anyway, I hope the beast didn’t leave too much of a mess!

Love,

Jacqui


End file.
